Seat-back spring.



G. W. SGHULTZ @L E. A. SWEBNEY.

SEAT BACK SPRING. APPLIOATIN FILED MARJSO', 1911.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

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CHARLES W. SCHULTZ AND EDWARD A. SWEENEY, F DETBQIT, MICHIGAN.

SEAT-BACK SPRING.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Application led March 30, 1911. Serial No. 617,804.

.'to.provide means whereby particularly the upper part of the seat-back shall be rendered soft and resilient. l

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation ofthe set of springs for an automobile tonneau seat-back with a portion of the same covered by upholstery. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are elevations of sections of two forms of the construction, on a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a front elevation and Fig. 6 is an edge viewr of the resilient ribbon of spring wire employed in this construction.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views. The back cushion of an automobile tonneau is usually formed by building up a thick pad of horse-hair, moss or other some-- what resilient brous material, covering the same with leather, plush or other ood wearing material, and then tuftmg. Such cushions are yielding to a certain extent but not suiiiciently so to be perfectly comfortable when the vehicle is traveling at high speeds over poor roads. It has been found most desirable that especially those portions of the cushions ofautomobiles, immediately back of the neck, shoulders and upper part of the chest of the passengers, should be yielding and Asoft and at the same time resilient, and that this is more desirable than that the seat-cushions should be resilient.

In the accompanying drawings 1 conventionally represents the seat, 2 the seat cushion, and B the back of an automobile seat, which back may be of any desired height and inclination. The spring construction is first assembled and then secured in position to the back. It consists of a frame formed of horizontal bars 4, 5 and 6, and upright bars 7 which position the horizontal bars and are secured thereto. upper ends 8 of these horizontal bars may be bent to engage the top of the seat-back 8 The where they may be secured in position by the screws 9, as shown in Fig. 2.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.'

Secured to the upright bars 7 A are a series of forwardly projecting coil springs 10. These may be of any construction and are preferably secured to the' vertical bars by means of tongues 11 sheared out of these bars, under which the rear-end spirals of the springs may extend, after which the tongues may be bent back to hold the coils in place. Extending-from the bars 6, where their ends may be journaled under the tongues 12, as shown in- Fig. 4, are rods 13, forming the loops 14 and extending up in front of the coil springs 10, and connecting to the resilient ribbons 15 at their upper ends, preferably at the middle of the upper sprlngs 10. These ribbons are normally flat and are made of resilient wire bent into sinuous curves as shown on a larger scale in Figs. 5 and 6. These spring ribbons .are bent into the form of Ia loop as shown in Fig. 2 and extend upward and backward and then for# ward until their ends are connected to the cross bar 4 by the loops 16. The result of this construction is a spring of which the lower portion is quite stiff while the upper portion is very yielding. The adjacent ribbons 15 may be connected across by small "coil springs 17, thus formin a soft resilient cushion for the upper portion of the body and the head.

Instead of rods 13 and ribbons 15, continuous ribbons 18 may textend from the cross bars 6 up over the'lsprings 10 and. thence farther upward to form the loops 19, which may again be connected by the small coils 17. The construction is thus seen to consist in a rigid frame, coil springs mounted thereon and projecting forward, C- shaped resilient members extending over the coil springs and connecting to the upper and lower barsof the frame, the upper portions, at least, of the C-shaped members being formed of a ribbon produced by a wire bent lnto sinuous curves. These curves will open and close as the stretch on the ribbon varies. The upper portions of theC-shaped mem-` bers preferably overhang the rear of theframe. Any sudden jolt, such as may be caused by a stone or a rut when the vehicle is traveling at highspeed, is softened by the spring ribbons yielding. The small springs 17 cause adjacent springs 19 to act together.

. the upper portion -of .the pad Will and prevented from sinking in between the ribbons l5 or 19 by the small springs 17. The rib# bons'formed by bending spring wire into sinuous curves, are not only resilient transversely, in the manner that a Hat plate is resilient, but are also elastic, shortening and lengthening as may be necessary and then returning to .their original lengths. As a result,' the upper portion of this seat-back spring is unusually yielding and effective.

aving now explained our construction, what we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l A seat-back-spring construction comprising a frame formed of lon itudinal and upright barsv secured togeter, coil springs ness may be secured over the springs, e

essere mounted, on the same to project forward, and a series of upright spring ribbons formed by bending resilient wire to form flat sinuous curves, said ribbons connecting to the frame at their lower ends, extending upward over the fronts of the coil springs, and then forming loops at the top of the frame, their ends connecting to the frame, and small coil springs connecting the upper portion of the adjacent springribbons.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 30 ing witnesses. l

CHARLES W. SCHULTZ.

EDWARD A. SWEENEY.

Witnesses:

EDWARD N. PAGELSEN, ELIZABETH M. BROWN. 

